The Christophe de Margerie has completed her commercial maiden voyage carrying LNG from Norway to South Korea including an NSR transit that took just six days, 12 hours and 15 minutes. It was not only a record time for an NSR transit but also the first by a commercial vessel without icebreaker support.
Average speed during the passage exceeded 14 knots despiet sailing through ice that was 1.2 m thick in places. The Arc7 class vessel is capable of sailing unaided through iceup 2.1m thick.
With a total voyage time of 19 days from Hammerfest in Norway to Boryeong in South Korea SCF said it was roughly 30% faster than transiting via the Suez Canal. “This again demonstrates the economic potential of using the Northern Sea Route for large-capacity vessel transits,” SCF said.
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